Captivating -- I read it in one sitting. The plot unfortunately deflates a bit at the end, abruptly running up against a slightly too convenient conclCaptivating -- I read it in one sitting. The plot unfortunately deflates a bit at the end, abruptly running up against a slightly too convenient conclusion, but while it's humming along, it is interesting and different and great. Also, and I say this as someone who is very picky about these things: this book is genuinely sexy....more

Lush and romantic, this is the rare pro-romance that reads like fanfic -- which, if you know me at all, is the opposite of a snide comment: it is theLush and romantic, this is the rare pro-romance that reads like fanfic -- which, if you know me at all, is the opposite of a snide comment: it is the highest, highest compliment.

My one regret is that this isn't longer, a) because it would give me more to enjoy, and b) because it would allow some elements that were slightly underdeveloped to be better served. Chant has a lot of fascinating ideas about story and identity about which I would happily read several more book-length explorations. I hope he writes them....more

I really enjoyed the last book in this series, so I was disappointed with the degree to which I did not connect with this one (ha). I know I'm picky aI really enjoyed the last book in this series, so I was disappointed with the degree to which I did not connect with this one (ha). I know I'm picky about depictions of fandom -- especially male-centric depictions -- but this book managed to make it -- make everything, really -- seem both unrealistic and incredibly mundane. Both MCs came across as incredibly young -- younger even than their actual baby-ages of mid-20s -- and I didn't really like either of them. I appreciate Erickson and Hassell including diverse protagonists, including those that aren't neurotypical, but Ian just comes across as a demanding jerk. Also, the ease of Jesse's "gay now!" transition felt underwritten to me, and though I liked him better than Ian, I still found him to be a fairly dull and generic character.

This series appears to be drifting more and more in the direction of YouTube stars (rather than staying in the neighborhood of soldier gamers, which is where it started out), and while I'm not ruling out future changes in mood, I won't be rushing off to find the fourth book....more

Sadly, not a particularly good deployment of the trope. The prose has some nice zip -- there are a few genuinely funny lines -- but I nFake dating!!!!

Sadly, not a particularly good deployment of the trope. The prose has some nice zip -- there are a few genuinely funny lines -- but I never felt any sizzle between the protagonists. And frankly, I couldn't get over how unprofessional all the FBI agents in this were. Not unprofessional for ~sexy~ reasons; unprofessional for stupidity reasons.

Perhaps an odd choice of read for 2018: a romance between the son of the Democratic president and a Republican congressman. I think I wanted the fantaPerhaps an odd choice of read for 2018: a romance between the son of the Democratic president and a Republican congressman. I think I wanted the fantasy of said Republican lawmaker having the balls to say "Fuck my party and its toxic values" and step away from it in a blaze of glory. Which isn't quite what happens.

Cardeno C. skirts around the politics in this book a little too much -- their choice, obviously, and this was written in 2015, which at this point feels like...a whole different world. But I no longer believe in "nice Republicans." I would love a gay romance that goes to the mattresses on politics.

The sex was skimable to somewhat off-putting; "Ford's shaft was dark with blood" is not a sentence I ever want to read, particularly in a love scene. And the fact that the president's son never has a Secret Service agent near him in 350 pages was ridiculous and distracting -- I can see how it may have eased the plotting for the author, but it was yet another thing that made me not believe that this guy's dad was really in the White House.

That said, both main characters (and also Trevor's mom, the First Lady) were well drawn and likable. Setting fridge logic and my active brain aside -- for whatever small increments of time I could manage -- I enjoyed this a surprising amount, especially when I pretended it was Political Animals fanfic.

Quiet, thoughtful, lovely -- this is not a traditional romance, and even though that was what I came in expecting, I found this singular little book rQuiet, thoughtful, lovely -- this is not a traditional romance, and even though that was what I came in expecting, I found this singular little book refreshing. The characters are well-drawn: much of the romance centers on these two men -- Paul, a grieving minister, and Ian, a recovering alcoholic -- having playful debates on the phone, and I both enjoyed and believed these discussions. This book has an unusual realism, which extends to (view spoiler)[the lack of a traditional happy ending (hide spoiler)], but I was sucked utterly into its world.

I wish Lee would write more novels: there is so much in this one that is unexpected and enchanting....more

I usually love Eli Easton, but I have yet to come across a context in which the use of ISIS as a plot device in a romance novel doesn't strike me as iI usually love Eli Easton, but I have yet to come across a context in which the use of ISIS as a plot device in a romance novel doesn't strike me as incredibly tacky....more

Dull. The prose is decent, but the characters, setting, and plot entirely lacked spark. I never really felt the chemistry between the two leads and IDull. The prose is decent, but the characters, setting, and plot entirely lacked spark. I never really felt the chemistry between the two leads and I didn't care about whether or not they got together or solved the little middling mysteries that had contrived to bring them together....more

Outrageously terrible. I have to admit I'm intrigued by the idea of a forbidden romance between the President of the United States and a Secret ServicOutrageously terrible. I have to admit I'm intrigued by the idea of a forbidden romance between the President of the United States and a Secret Service agent, but not when the men in question spend the entire book sobbing hysterically and being absolutely abysmal at their jobs. (Incompetence = one of the least sexy things ever, amirite?)

Also, if you're going to write a story with a political setting, you need to actually know something about politics or avoid those aspects as much as possible and just focus on the fantasy. Bauer does neither, instead crafting a ludicrous international conspiracy plot that reads like something out of Dr. Strangelove. Also, I have to say: using "jihadists," terrorism, and political unrest in Africa and the Middle East to help two white guys touch dicks seems incredibly crass to me (especially, let's be frank, when it's done so freakin' poorly). It feels mere steps away from writing a Holocaust romance.

Basically: sobbing incompetent men are never hot, and this book's politics are at best ill conceived and at worst seriously gross. Downvote....more

I feel kind of bad giving this book one star, as it is essentially sweet and good-natured -- but god, I hated it. There was nowhere near enough tensioI feel kind of bad giving this book one star, as it is essentially sweet and good-natured -- but god, I hated it. There was nowhere near enough tension, sexual or otherwise, and very little plot. Thus, the book hangs on whether you like the characters and "the banter." I say "the banter," as it is called that several times by the narration itself -- generally a sure sign, in my opinion, that said snappy dialogue will feel forced and not funny or clever or enjoyable. I found the main character thick as a brick and was mostly annoyed by his immature emotional problems. I was also frequently pulled out of what little narrative there was by the author, who is from New Zealand, putting what I guess one would call Kiwi-isms in her supposedly American characters' mouths. I understand why other people are responding to this book, but stylistically, it rubbed me the wrong way. Pisces must be incompatible. ...more

Okay. So I read this because Smart Bitches Trashy Books said it was an unusual beast: a category romance that actually tried to deal with issues of raOkay. So I read this because Smart Bitches Trashy Books said it was an unusual beast: a category romance that actually tried to deal with issues of race and class. And...it is. Unfortunately, I found that having something be sort of, almost interesting just made me want it to be actually interesting. This book's aspirations toward goodness made me even more aware of all the ways it was not good.

Marcus Warren is sort of Tony Stark-lite: he's a genius billionaire playboyphilanthropist...yeah, he's basically just a billionaire with no personality beyond a whole bunch of mommy issues. Liberty Reese (seriously) is Pepper Potts but with no spine or spunk; she grew up horrendously poor and is biracial but passing for white which is potentially a really, really interesting premise. Unfortunately, I felt like this book's white author treated "blackness" as if it were synonymous with "poorness" and...it's really, really not. Setting that aside: it was really frustrating that Liberty doesn't give as good as she gets; so much of this book is just her long angst-ridden internal monologues about how everything is going to go so, so wrong. This could be in character for someone with her background, but it's not used effectively and it's really, really boring. Worse, it means she and Marcus have no banter, no spark.

They are both cute with the adorable abandoned baby they find; this book is tropetastic, and I suspect that if kidfic is super your jam, you might get more out of it than I did. But the tiny tastes of something provocative and interesting here only left me hungry for something more substantial.

I commend the author and publisher for trying to deal with these topics in a romance novel; I hope such things are attempted more often, and more successfully. ...more